Temporary Tokyo Starbucks invites customers to order coffee through medium of books

A pop-up coffee shop which appeared for three weeks in September offers an inventive take on the concept of take-away coffee. Nendo’s pop-up Starbucks in Toyko was a haven for book enthusiasts, transforming the space into a library where each (empty) book sleeve corresponded to a certain type of coffee.

Customers selected a book which corresponded to their chosen drink and, after reading the informational cover, took it to the cash desk to swap for a coffee. The sleeve was then slipped onto their take-away cup, ensuring that the customer could retain the information.

Nendo explains: “The ‘library’ invites visitors to choose an espresso drink as they would a book, and verse themselves in espresso drinks as though quietly entering into a fictional world. Books and coffee are both important parts of everyday life, so we created a link between favourite books and favourite coffees.”